Alimony isn’t mandated in this state. You have to request alimony prior to the final divorce decree. So, if you choose not to request alimony, you don’t have to get it. In my divorce, I chose not to request alimony even though my husband made more than I did and had greater income potential. BTW, alimony and child support are separate issues as far as the courts are concerned.
You can work out that in an agreement. You could agree not to request alimony or child support if the other spouse agrees not to request the other, but I do not know if an agreement would protect either parent from ever asking for child support.
Once the absolute divorce is given a spouse can not go back and request alimony.
Child support on the other hand can be requested at any time and can be re-evalutated every 3 years or with a 15% change in income or change of lifestyle. Child support is based on the number of overnights the child/children stay with each parent, both parents income, cost of insurance or child care, if either parent has other children they are responsible for…Unless you make the same amount of money and have the children an equal amount of time, usually one parent will always pay the other child support. Unless they do not request it. I’ll be interested to read the attorneys response because I do not know if the agreement would cover child support requests until the child is 18…
You can agree to anything you want to in a divorce.
Athos is wrong. Alimony is REQUIRED for a dependent spouse if the supporting spouse has committed adultery. But, an agreement can supercede the law. Law is vague. Doesn’t say for how long or how much it has to be. Can be a dang dollar a month.
Child support, if decided in an agreement, can ALWAYS be revisited by the COURT. The COURT likes to think it’s protecting the child! There are GUIDELINES and the Court feels compelled to follow them
Alimony is a separate issue than the divorce itself. An application for alimony be made prior to the final divorce, however, you do not have to make an application for alimony if you choose not to. If no application of alimony is made prior to the divorce decree, then you have forever lost your right to obtain alimony. (There might be a caveat about not discovering an affair until after the decree is final, but I’m not sure.)
Now, having said that, if alimony is applied for prior to the divorce decree and the supporting spouse has committed adultery during the marriage, then yes, alimony MUST be paid to the dependent spouse, unless both parties (supporting and dependent) have committed adultery. Amount of alimony to be awarded is at the judges discretion based upon 16 factors listed both in the Alimony-FAQ on this site and the state statute.
I am assuming you are talking about reaching some kind of agreement that neither of you will pay support. That is fin, but you should be aware that the court always has jurisdiction of child support and the person who should be receiving child support can go back to court in the future and seek it.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
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In NC, is it OK for the dependent spouse not to be paid alimony if the parent with most of the custody (and the main bread winner) does not request child support?